Helmet number rumor causes stir

July 15, 2014

The possibility of Penn State's helmets featuring numbers on the sides popped up Monday when a Nittany Lion player posted a picture on Instagram of a helmet with the number 24 on it.

Coach James Franklin squashed the rumor late Monday night, though, when he told statecollege.com that the helmet is a replica in his office.

"Basically nothing has changed," Franklin told the website. "It is sitting there in my office. It has been there since before I got the job. That's the whole story."

Freshman running back Nick Scott posted the helmet picture on Instagram, setting off a frenzy of speculation about potential changes to the team's uniforms.

Penn State used to have numbers on the helmets in the 1960s and 70s before the school went away from that practice. Two years ago, after linebacker Michael Mauti was injured, all the players on the team wore his number 42 on their helmets.

Bolden, Jones update

Two former Penn State quarterbacks were in the news Monday.

Paul Jones has been ruled academically ineligible to play at Robert Morris, according to colonialscorner.com.

Also, Rob Bolden plans to transfer from LSU, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Jones and Bolden both came to Penn State as highly rated prospects. Bolden started for the Lions for parts of the 2010 and '11 seasons until being replaced by Matt McGloin.